About Found Treasures: A Meta (and Delicious) Experience

January 14, 2022 – What if I told you I was going to sum up all the anticipated glories of the upcoming year in food—which took me nearly 1,800 words and 17 different items with a piece Edible published last week—inside of five fleeting minutes.

Some valid replies could include: a) not wise Bagel-Hole-for-Brains; b) yeah right; c) good luck with that.

The encouraging news is that I have the guidance of a world-class professional in KRML program director and general manager Jeff White—a local radio pioneer and ambassador for essentially all things appetizing, from obscure music to barbecue.

Last week we recorded our first Friday Found Treasures radio spot, brought to you by (cue sirens and laser lights) Edible Monterey Bay. 

The nutritionally-dense segment airs around noon on Friday every week, via 1410 AM and 94.7 FM.

For our virgin voyage, we aimed to spotlight a few of my favorite new 2021 restaurants in the area—drawing from my top 11 and a piece that mentions 15 other important openings and updates. 

To have a fighting chance of fitting within a five-minute flight pattern, we decided to stick to my top three. 

Here’s that debut segment, which clocks in at…13 minutes. 

Please be patient with me as White helps me upgrade my airwave abilities. Our second installment airs today, and gets at some of the things we can look forward to in the year ahead—not all 17 from my story, but each of those aiming to open in the next few weeks. 

P.S. We came in under 7 minutes!

In a promo for the segment I share a slogan we aspire to: “Because life is about flavor,” but more than anything the show is about having fun, and (admitting bias) I think we pull it off. 

At the same time, the Edible-KRML collaboration opens up another avenue to share all the inspiring things happening in the tri-county foodscape. 

By the way, KRML does an admirable range of locally driven special programming beyond music and Found Treasures, from Canna Conversations Fridays at 4:20pm (wherein I learned why munchies are real, on a molecular level), to Pescadero Surf Report weekdays in the 8am hour.

Several for food-and-drink enthusiasts to flag: “District 7 Tasting Flight” airs 4pm Tuesdays with new songs entering the curated rotation, admittedly without epicurean or vino content but with a family-owned vineyard sponsor. 

“Vintners Minute” flows 4pm Thursdays with Monterey Wines’ Kim Stemler and occasional guests. 

“What’s on Tap” with Peter B’s brewmaster Natalie Mika flows Thursdays a little after noon. 

“Pub Talk,” meanwhile, happens live from 5-6pm Wednesdays at Alvarado Street Brewery & Bistro in Carmel Plaza with a rotating cast of guests, many from the world of area eateries, soon to include benevolent and talented EMB editor and publisher Deborah Luhrman.

Their most recent taping featured Visit Carmel’s Amy Herzog (Visit Carmel) and a look at Carmel Culinary Week, which happens to start today, running through Jan. 23 with special offers, fixed-priced menus and more at dozens of restaurants-by-the-sea. 

One more thing happening today: White’s birthday.

He’ll be celebrating with one and only Allie Maffei and her family, eating biscuits and whole-roasted hog from former Folktale Group culinary director Todd Fisher, by way of Fisher and his wife Ada’s recent acquisition of The Meatery in Seaside. Maffei helps direct messaging at Folktale, which just celebrated its adoption of Chef Justin Robarge. (The Fishers also just bought White’s new favorite brisket burrito spot, Valley Hills Deli, with friends and partners Emily and Arlen Frew.

That may be a lot to digest, but that’s how we do in Found Treasures town. We err on the side of overfed.

So HBD, hermano Jeff White. Stay hungry and keep the flavor coming.